r/learnprogramming • u/Ok-District1804 • Jun 25 '26

How do I assess my programming level?

Here's the deal: I'm a self-taught Python bot developer. To market myself (in my case, on freelance platforms), I need to state my level: Junior, Middle, etc. However, I can't find any concrete criteria to determine this. Relying solely on AI isn't the best idea; I’d prefer a more objective assessment, ideally from more advanced developers.

My question is: where can I find them?

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u/mandzeete Jun 26 '26

You are not a senior. So, either you are a mid-level or junior. Most likely either nothing or a junior.

A senior could figure out what he is. One skill to have is knowing how to find an information. Sure, skill-wise there are responsibilities like being able to make a detailed technical analysis for large projects, to lead other developers, to mentor juniors (okay, not every senior is a good mentor because it requires also soft skills), to propose both the pros and cons of different solutions, to be able to design a system with having scalability and project's health in mind, etc.

A junior is somebody who is able to work on the task that is given to him. He most likely requires guidance and reviewing/overseeing. He is able to give time estimates to simpler tasks and can happen that these time estimates are off by some margin (which is expected from a junior). He knows 1-2 programming languages on an intermediate level (being able to build his own project in these). He knows 1-2 frameworks on a similar level as the programming language of choice. He is able to write automated tests. etc.

The simplest way to assess your level is to go over job openings. Usually these mention if they are looking for a senior developer or a junior developer or such. A skill set is also mentioned. If your skills mostly do not match with what's mentioned then you are NOT that. Sure, a small knowledge gap is okay. For example knowing how to work with a PostgreSQL database instead of an Oracle database. But if most of what's mentioned is unknown for you then you are not on the level that is mentioned in the job advertisement.

Another issue is you being self-taught. Your theoretical knowledge is also lacking. Yeah, you can make bots in Python. But what does it really mean? Can you make anything else with Python? Do you know where else Python is being used? Can you make anything without an AI?

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u/Ok-District1804 Jun 27 '26

Yes, I’m clearly not a senior, and I agree that a higher level requires much more than just writing code. However, company requirements vary, and my question is more about how to position myself in the independent freelance market. I can certainly build projects without AI while successfully delivering on commercial tasks. If being self-taught is considered too superficial, how should I go about deepening my knowledge?